Day 237 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Job 38

1 And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through the whirlwind and clouds, [saying], 2 Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in [his] heart, and thinks to conceal [them] from me? 3 Gird thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me. 4 Where wast thou when I founded the earth? tell me now, if thou hast knowledge, 5 who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it? 6 On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it? 7 When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice. 8 And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out of its mother's womb. 9 And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist. 10 And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates. 11 And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee. 12 Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place; 13 to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it? 14 Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth? 15 And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud? 16 Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep? 17 And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee? 18 And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the [whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it? 19 And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness? 20 If thou couldest bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths; 21 I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great. 22 But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? and hast thou seen the treasures of hail? 23 And is there a store [of them], for thee against the time of [thine] enemies, for the day of wars and battle? 24 And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven? 25 And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders; 26 to rain upon the land where [there is] no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited [land], 27 and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs? 28 Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew? 29 And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky, 30 which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly? 31 And dost thou understand the band of Pleias, and hast thou opened the barrier of Orion? 32 Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them? 33 And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven? 34 And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain? 35 And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is [thy pleasure]? 36 And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery? 37 And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth? 38 For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another. 39 And wilt thou hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents? 40 For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods. 41 And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.

Job 39

1 [Say] if thou knowest the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and [if] thou hast marked the calving of the hinds: 2 and [if] thou hast numbered the full months of their being with young, and [if] thou hast relieved their pangs: 3 and hast reared their young without fear; and wilt thou loosen their pangs? 4 Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not return to them. 5 And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands? 6 whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts. 7 He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer. 8 He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing. 9 And will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or to lie down at thy manger? 10 And wilt thou bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for thee in the plain? 11 And dost thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou commit thy works to him? 12 And wilt thou believe that he will return to thee thy seed, and bring [it] in [to] thy threshing-floor? 13 The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice], 14 for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust, 15 and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them. 16 She has hardened [herself] against her young ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without fear. 17 For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding. 18 In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider. 19 Hast thou invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror? 20 And hast thou clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage? 21 He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain. 22 He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword. 23 The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground: 24 and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds. 25 And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing. 26 And does the hawk remain steady by thy wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south? 27 And does the eagle rise at thy command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest, 28 on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]? 29 Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far. 30 And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcases may be, immediately they are found.

Job 40

1 And the Lord God answered Job, and said, 2 Will [any one] pervert judgment with the Mighty One? and he that reproves God, let him return it for answer. 3 And Job answered and said to the Lord, 4 Why do I yet plead? being rebuked even while reproving the Lord: hearing such things, whereas I am nothing: and what shall I answer to these [arguments]? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. 5 I have spoken once; but I will not do so a second time. 6 And the Lord yet again answered and spoke to Job out of the cloud, [saying], 7 Nay, gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me. 8 Do not set aside my judgment: and dost thou think that I have dealt with thee in any other way, than that thou mightest appear to be righteous? 9 Hast thou an arm like the Lord's? or dost thou thunder with a voice like his? 10 Assume now a lofty bearing and power; and clothe thyself with glory and honour. 11 And send forth messengers with wrath; and lay low every haughty one. 12 Bring down also the proud man; and consume at once the ungodly. 13 And hide them together in the earth; and fill their faces with shame. 14 [Then] will I confess that thy right hand can save [thee]. 15 But now look at the wild beasts with thee; they eat grass like oxen. 16 Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves are wrapped together. 18 His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is [as] cast iron. 19 This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels. 20 And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep. 21 He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and reed, and bulrush. 22 And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and [so do] the bushes of the field. 23 If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trusts that Jordan will rush up into his mouth. 24 [Yet one] shall take him in his sight; [one] shall catch [him] with a cord, and pierce his nose. 25 But wilt thou catch the serpent with a hook, and put a halter about his nose? 26 Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp? 27 Will he address thee with a petition? softly, with the voice of a suppliant? 28 And will he make a covenant with thee? and wilt thou take him for a perpetual servant? 29 And wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or bind him as a sparrow for a child? 30 And do the nations feed upon him, and the nations of the Phœnicians share him? 31 And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither [shall they carry] his head in fishing-vessels. 32 But thou shalt lay thy hand upon him [once], remembering the war that is waged by his mouth; and let it not be done any more.